Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Three Patriots

What does it take to be a patriot? It takes love of country, commitment and rare courage. In American history the term “patriot” belongs to those few ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances, then rise to a challenge in an uncommon way. It may be an Audie Murphy or a Sergeant York. But those are well known. I have chosen three lesser known patriots to highlight:

Nathan Hale. Young Nathan had a bright future ahead of him when the Revolutionary war broke out and changed his plans. Yale-educated, he volunteered to become an officer in the Continental Army. He had served only a short time when General Washington was driven from New York and the British recaptured Manhattan Island. Only 23 years old, Nathan volunteered to go behind enemy lines as a spy. A Loyalist recognized him in a Manhattan tavern and he was turned over to the British. As he was led to the gallows, he was heard to say: ”I regret that I have but one life to give for my country!”

Francis Marion. He led a group of unpaid volunteers, mostly Southern farmers, against British troops in the Revolutionary War. Marion was very successful in disrupting British troop communications, intercepting supplies, and even freeing prisoners captured by the British. Known to the British as the ‘Swamp Fox”, he was pursued relentlessly but never captured. The recent movie “The Patriot” was loosely based on the exploits of Francis Marion, who later became an elected politician in the newly independent America.

Jeff Sessions. In the summer of 2007, a handful of U.S. Senators attempted to ram through a blockbuster Immigration Reform bill. They met in secret allowing few details to escape to the public. Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader pulled every trick to limit debate and shoot down common sense amendments to the bill. The result was a godawful beast that some called “a thousand page surrender notice to Mexico.” It might have passed except for the actions of a true patriot, Senator Jeff Sessions.

Throughout the onslaught the Alabama senator held press conferences to let the public know what the “loopholes” were in the monstrous bill. He posted them on his website, gave brilliant speeches on the senate floor, and shared his viewpoints on talk radio. Here are some examples of his clear reasoning following the cloture vote:

I was not going to vote for a bill that promises amnesty today and law enforcement in the future, and the amnesty occurs but the law enforcement does not.

That is the fundamental thing.

Today, somebody handed me some polling data that sheds a little light on this weeks events. The article, posted on the Rasmussen Reports website is titled ``Support for an immigration bill falls.'' A poll conducted Monday and Tuesday night found that 23 percent of voters now support the bill, while 50 percent are opposed. Two-to-one opposed to the bill.

We have heard people say we need to do something, even if it is the wrong something or even if it will not work. We have heard the claim that the American people just want us to do something over and over again. That sounds good, I will admit. We certainly do have serious problems with our immigration system.

The Rasmussen Report says, however, that ``in the face of public opposition, some supporters of the legislation have argued that the compromise may not be perfect, but doing something is better than nothing. Voters have a different view--a solid plurality believes it would be better for the country to pass no bill at this time rather than letting the Senate compromise become law.'' And that is why people's phones have been ringing off the hook, because we are given a responsibility to deal with an important issue.

I love my colleagues. I tease them a lot. I call the group of them that wrote this bill the masters of the universe. They all met in some secret room somewhere, and they started plotting, working, and trying to do the right thing. They met and met and worked and worked, and they decided that they were going to tell America what we needed. They were going to figure it all out, and just explain to us what the real facts were and how this thing ought to be handled.

But, they are a bunch of politicians--good people but still they are politicians. They didn't invite anybody from the Border Patrol into their meetings to give them advice as to what is actually working on the borders. They didn't invite interior agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to tell them how to fix the interior immigration problems. They did have, of course, direct and regular contact with big business. They had direct and regular contact with special advocacy groups, who had their list of demands. They were actively seeking out ways to gain the political support of this group and that group because that is what they think legislation is sometimes. But they forgot about the American people.

Because of the work of a dedicated patriot like Jeff Sessions, the American people were informed and avoided a disaster which would have undermined our country’s very sovereignty. Sessions also knew that once the big bill was tabled dozens of smaller bills such as the DREAM Act could pass the same beast in smaller doses. So he continues to alert the public as best he can, empowering the people.

If I had to choose the most important patriot among the three mentioned here, I would have to choose Jeff Sessions. You see, Nathan Hale and Francis Marion had only the British to contend with. Sessions was surrounded by the powerful forces of idiocy, as well as traitors in both parties … and he beat them all. He is still fighting for us.

One more thing. I’d like to praise Norm Coleman for his efforts on immigration reform, putting our interests first before the interests of the illegals. But I can’t. He did see reason and vote against cloture this past summer. But he was not a leader in the same way that Sessions was. Coleman had an equal opportunity to lead but did not. And that scares me.

It was the mild-mannered low profile Senator from Alabama that saved America … at least for now.